I snagged a blue switch 3178 off of eBay last week. It got here yesterday, and I cleaned it up and put a universal xwhatsit I also got off eBay into it.
The keyboard was really clean as used, unrefurbished keyboards go:
- IMG_20210630_180112__01.jpg (438.56 KiB) Viewed 1966 times
This is after I cleaned it, but it didn't look at all worse than this before; I only gave the case a light rubbing with a wet paper towel and ran the keys through denture cleaner - except for the spacebar.
It was, AFAICT, originally built with neoprene foam, and that hadn't deteriorated at all. (The unit is dated 34-1986.) All I did to the keyboard itself was blow the dust bunnies out of it, though this is after the controller replacement.
- IMG_20210630_180508__01.jpg (801.63 KiB) Viewed 1966 times
The backplate shows almost zero corrosion.
- IMG_20210630_180929__01.jpg (1.05 MiB) Viewed 1966 times
I used pandrew's fork via his online configurator to build and load QMK on it. The original firmware was for a different keyboard, but I managed to get it reflashed easily enough. After a few iterations through the layout editor, here's what I would up with for layer 0:
- Screenshot from 2021-06-30 18-48-04.png (122.64 KiB) Viewed 1966 times
...and layer 1:
- Screenshot from 2021-06-30 18-48-36.png (91.67 KiB) Viewed 1966 times
...and layer 2.
- Screenshot from 2021-06-30 18-49-02.png (77.97 KiB) Viewed 1966 times
The idea is that layer 0 is stock PC/Mac, with the </> key repurposed for LGUI and the backtab key repurposed for RMENU, and Attn used for Escape; Dup is Home, and Field Mark is End. The far lower left key is a function shift, with Fn-[1 through =] being PF1-PF12, Fn-keypad being PF13-PF24 (both as printed ont eh front of the keys), Fn-up/Fn-down being PgUp and PgDn, and Fn-Space being a firmware access: Fn-Space-R is reset, Fn-Space-D is Debug, and Fn-Space-E is reset EEPROM.
I use the clicker key (the one to the right of the Fn key) for the solenoid control (press to toggle, Fn-press to reset solenoid parameters), and Fn-right and Fn-left to lower and raise the solenoid duration. Al in all, it's a functional layout, and one I think I'll find quite usable.
